Bhutan - Another stabbing in Thimphu

A 19-year-old man was stabbed by a group of boys at Olakha in Thimphu last night. The incident took place at the Central Plaza around at around 11:50 pm.

According to the medical report, the knife has pierced an inch into the victim’s ribs, damaging his lung. Doctors say this has caused internal bleeding. Meanwhile, the victim is in the hospital and in a stable condition.

In a statement to the police, the victim’s friends said a group of eight to nine boys came out of a flat and started bothering them.

When the victim and his friends tried escaping from the scene after one of their friends was battered, the suspect came after them, and stabbed the victim with a knife.

Lieutenant Thinley Yoezer Tangbi said the suspects have been identified and the police are looking out for them.

He added, all the suspects are repeated crime offenders.

Bhutan - Early next year start for first data centre

Thimphu Tech Park Bhutan’s first commercial data centre should be operational by the first quarter of next year at the IT Park inaugurated this week.

The data centre, which will be run by a joint venture company between a local IT firm, New Edge Technology and the UK firm, Burland Technology Solutions, is hoping to eventually service clients as far as the US, UK and Europe.

Burland CEO, Richard A Vass, said that the first stage would be to establish the centre, Data Centre Services (DCS), in Bhutan and service local clients. The second stage would be to look to regional businesses, like in India and Bangladesh.

“We’ve such good fibre connectivity in this country, there’s absolutely no reason we can’t go to the US, the UK and European countries to host data centres here,” he said.

Vass explained that a data centre is a “very carefully engineered and controlled environment, where IT services, such as hosting websites or software, can be housed.”

He pointed out that IT services require very stable environments, in terms of power provision, temperature control and physical security.

“When IT services aren’t hosted in stable environments, it can lead to poor reliability in the provision of services,” he said.

He said, at Thimphu Tech Park, this stable environment was assured, by having two main utility power supplies from different sources, ensuring power supply redundancy.

To further assure power supply reliability, UPS or battery power supply is also provided to handle any breaks or dips in the supply. This will be further backed by diesel generators.

“So for as long as the servers are concerned, they’ll never see any difference in their supply,” he said.

To maintain cooling of equipment, Vass said that an “innovative, efficient and low cost cooling system” is being adopted.

Explaining a need for constant supply into the data centre, he said, cooling was required, since the heat generated by computer chips, as they work, could destroy the chip itself.

Vass pointed out that an attractive feature for international IT firms would be Bhutan’s temperate climate. He said that Bhutan’s cooler air could be used for “free cooling” of its equipment, which would lead to even lower cost of operations.

He said low cost and hydro energy, which is considered green energy, would be reasons that could attract international companies to set up data centres in Bhutan.

New Edge Technology CEO, Tashi Tsering, said the idea is to establish a world-class data centre.

He said that DCS is aiming at commencing operations by the first quarter of next year, but admitted it was a “difficult, complicated, and expensive” affair to set up a data centre.

He pointed out that the main challenge is in developing the internal capacity or Bhutanese manpower to run and manage a data centre.

“Right now, we don’t have this capacity, so we have to get people from outside,” he said, adding, a challenge remained in learning from outside, and that technology transfer took place till manpower here was ready.

He said another challenge was that many companies have heard of Bhutan, but were cautious and waiting for other companies to take the first step. “They want to see proof of concept before they come in and get their feet wet,” he said.

Tashi Tsering said he expected DCS to employ about 12 people at full operations. He said that, initially, DCS would have to rely more on its experienced partner for expertise, while its bhutanese staff underwent training in India.

DCS did not reveal how much it has invested, or how much rent it will pay to the park. Tashi Tsering said that a data centre required “quite a bit of investment.”

By Gyalsten K Dorji

Bhutan - Cheaper eggs

Increase in domestic egg supply, price hiked after Bhutan stopped import of poultry and its products following an outbreak of bird flu in India, dragged down the price.

The precautionary measure also encouraged poultry farm in the country. There are almost 150 poultry farm in Tsirang, which lead to an increase in the supply of eggs and decrease in price. Price of eggs has reduced by 50 percent. Prevailing price of an egg is Nu. 4.

There is an apprehension among small farmers, low price and rising cost of poultry feed, could force them out of business.

Poultry farm owner said,” the price went down drastically in the last three weeks,” Dorji Drukpa added, “low price is barely enough to maintain the farm.” The price for a cartoon of eggs was Nu. 1,600 in the past and now farmer fetch around Nu 1,200.

The eggs are mostly market in Thimphu.

Bhutan - IT Park vandalised

The properties of under-construction Thimphu IT Park in Serbithang was vandalised by a group of boys referred to as Babesa gang. The incident happened in the early morning of June 20.

A gang of 15-20 boys slashed around 300 cement bags, cut off electric wires, broke window panes, burnt documents, destroyed fire pumps and drilled holes in two synthetic plastic tanks.

Based on the circumstantial evidences, the police has detained second year student of Royal Thimphu College.

The police have connected the case to an incident that happened few days back. An unemployed youth was caught stealing iron rods from the site by security guards. The boy was handed over to the police.

The college student had visited the construction site in the following morning inquiring about the boy caught in act of stealing. He had warned the security guards of possible revenge by “Babesa gang”.

The very night, around 2:00 am, two groups of boys entered the site from different directions. One group distracted the security guards and other damaged the properties.

The police found canvas shoes that appeared like the shoe print left at the crime scene in the house of detainee. The forensic experts are yet to confirm this claim.

Currently, the forensic experts are on elections duty. The claim will be verified after their return.

The act of vandalism is expected to delay the completion of IT Park on time. The Project Director, Gautam Nandy is wary about the fact.

“More than the monetary losses, it is a huge loss of time.”

The boys had also threatened the guards and workers to discontinue working on the site at the time of attack. The project director fear that workers might leave following the threat.

The project has not estimated the cost of the damage.

Bhutan - Keeping Thimphu clean, a gargantuan task

Keeping Thimphu clean and beautiful seems like a distant dream, at least for now. Despite several cleanup campaigns and measures put in place by the Thimphu City Corporation, Thimphu city is not getting any cleaner.

The sidewalks and roads are strewn with papers and plastic wrappers, the drains are clogged with plastic bottles, and the walls of shops and buildings are smeared with doma spit and lime.

Phub Dorji, a Thimphu resident, said “most of the goods are wrapped in plastic of paper. People throw away the wrappings carelessly.”

The Thimphu City Corporation has deployed 16 workers to clean the streets. They work the whole daylong, seven days a week to keep the streets clean.

Budhiman Tamang, one of the cleaners, said “I have been cleaning the streets for 25 years now; the garbage only seems to grow. We clean today and tomorrow, there will be even more garbage.”

Chandra Bahadur Darjee has been cleaning the streets for 21 years. “We start work at 6am and continue till 4 pm. The waste doesn’t seem to become less.”

Ten garbage collecting trucks move around the city collecting waste. Gyeltshen Dukpa, the city corporation’s chief environmental officer, believes that the city will remain the same despite their efforts unless the residents assume responsibility and develop civic sense.

Thimphu is the capital. Most of the residents are educated. It is home to the country’s elite but it seems asking them to do their bit is asking too much.

Bhutan - Bhutan Nepal trade talks

Bhutan and Nepal began talks in the capital Thimphu today to draft a trade agreement between the two neighbouring countries.

Trade between Bhutan and Nepal has been growing steadily though there is no formal trade agreement.

In 2008, the volume of trade between the two countries is estimated at Nu.324 million. The next year it grew to Nu. 455 million and to Nu.625 million in 2010.

The two day meeting will draft the trade agreement, the protocol to the agreement, rules of origin, and the list of exportable items of the respective countries.

The Director of Department of Trade Sonam P Wangdi is leading the Bhutanese delegation. The Nepalese delegation is led by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Toya Narayan Gyawali.